Refrigerating apparatus



L. e. CO'PEMAN.

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20. 1921.

1,409,283.. Patentea Man 14,1922

'6 SHEETSSHEET 1.

INVENTOR.

7/ f f Byz iywi yak 14% .4 Y'TORNEY L. G. COPEMAN.

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

APPL |CATION FILED JAN. 20. 1.921.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

L. G. COPEIVIAN.

' REF HIGERATING APPARATUS.

1 APPLICATWN FILED JAN. 20, 1921. 9 A. a

Patented Mar; 14, 1922.

6 SHEETSSHEET 3- n HllllllllllllllllllllHIHHHIHHHHi:HllgllllgllllglllllllllllllllHlllHllHl Q Q 3 1 Q n w I N VEN TOR.

# ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

L. e. COPEMAN. REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

vAPPLICATION FILED JAN. 20. I921.

SHEET 5.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

6 SHEETS I ll 'INVENTOR.

d 2m -TTRNE11 L. e. COPEIVIANL A REFRlGERATlNG APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN, 20, 1921 1,409,288: Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

6 SHEETSS'HEET 6- 4 TTORNEY.

' qcumulating, inthe line. .1

tmm STATES I PATENT orifice.

- LLOYDG. qorEMAN, or FLINT, MICHIGAN.

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

"T 0 till whomz't may concern:

Be it known that I, LLOYD- G. QOr-liitIh-Nflt citizen of the UnitedStates residingfl at Flint, in the county of Genesee-and'State of V.Michigan, have in'yentedcertain new and useful Improvements-1nRefrigerating Ap parat'us, of which the following is a ;specifi cation.

7 This invention relates torefrigeratin'g apparatus and has for itsobject automatically- Z cont-rolled refrigerating. apparatus that can 7be coupled upfw tha water supply-system having-a pump-controlled bypressure ac lhe*$ystem is especially tlesignetl to meet the needs ofrural communities and farmers where water is taken fronr Wells: Itresults'in an apparatus xvl i'chjcanno't only be iisedto furnish watebto service pipes and faucets butalso-can-b usetlto furnishfa lcoolingmedium to a footl'storage .bonx.

to low outside temperatures, In-tl-ie drawln'gs pressure p the thermosiit.

tion.

' 1 Furthermore; simply by changing an elec-Q trical connectionpn .the-.theri n0stat the CH culation of thewater can be usedto keep thetemperature of'the storage bok upv to agiyen point to prevent freezingin :i .hox exposed Fig. l

' trolling mechanism.

' Fig. 8 is an'e'ird ele vation-Qf the same.

Fig. 9,is an enlarge-cl view-of theswitch controlled hy't'he magnet;

Fig.5 1.0 is a detailed-view oflthe magnet armature and: its control.with on the line 1010 m"- Fig. 7.

' big. 11 is a section taken uithe' line Il +11:

of Fig.7.

Fig. 12 i v controlled switch showing the same 7 respect .to thehinding'p'os't. is shown)" Fig. ii is a diagrammatic View of the Wiring.l

" (q designates t .ret'r igerating chamber-.01-

box Esimilar anordinary Y ice-box"- except" that the same isrn'otdiminished in its cubical storage space hy'the presence of an ice chaineher filledjupqvith ice or Withab'rine chant. her filled with brine.' Thepipes thatfear-r f.

the-cooling medium are formed into coils which can be locatedjust-behind the. lining.

0tthe re frigerator, if desired; so as no'tto interfere with the storagespace. Theresult Specification of Letters Patent, Patented Ian .14 19.22 Application filed January 2o,'1e2'1 se 1-ia1 No. 438.593.

is that the entire interior capacity. of the,

refrigeratoris' available for food storagey'itiwhich is 'aryery.material improvement o've'r.

usual ice-cooled refrigerator or the usual. brine chamber refrigerator,6. designates" a thermostat.- This thermostat and itslelecytrically-operatedconnections are shownidia grammatically in Fig-.14.(listhe switch tllnl of the thermostat,'w'hijch-isdetailetliin F 4, '5'ancl 6. e isa coil ofthe'rmostiitic;

metal. usually brass and steel or t'wo metals of diiierentcoe'fiicientsof eipansio'n so that a 'variationin thermal conditions'ca isesyth'ethermostatelementto.Wind up r-unwind;

The switch; armiis thus caused to e gage:

either the terminals f or k. Supposing, for

instance, the temperature. in the food storage chamber rises to apredetermined 'point ,*-th-is causes the thermostat element to 1 unwind}This brings-the switch-arm. (l intocontact with the terminal h."'sReferr'ing to" Big. '14, the circuit ist ril-ced throughjthe Wire1001;0-

the binding post" The binding-fpost j."

Wipes the split ring switch element L2, This I switch element is a sortot a circular stormed:

metal (see Fig.1, Where. its'position with Contact Z also eriga gesthissplit ring-"SW element; "Hence. th-circuit can he'ltrilce'd from the'wirelOO to the post. 7' through the "switch element 70,10 the post Z,-=thr0ugh the bridge wire; m' to the'post; n,-an( 1- thentliigough the'wire l'Ql'tothe primary winding- .horse-sho'e or asplit ring stripofl'spring f 102' of the 's'tep tlown"transformer,;thence around themagirets-Q-Q-to-th'e*service plug;

103. .f1he closing: ofthis circuit'st-artsgthe electric motor M,', whichhas, an armature shaft -provided with a pinion (see Fig.

that meshes with the large {rear ptlia't, hat;

a spur gear-4q 'th: t 'meshes with the larger;

Lin turn is provided' with'a' sinzillciqgi eai 5 that meshes witlfthe .g1'.

fastened 1e sl'iaft'w These are simplyspeed reducing gears forconverting the high speed motor rotation into considerably slower speedfor the shaft u.

Fastened-to the shaft u is a cam disk n. (see Fig. On the face ofthis-cam disk is screwed the split ringswitch element is.

. This being on the shaftu of course rotates with that shaft butobviously when it is ro- Utated through half a tur'na gap occurs in 10crank arm y through a quarter of a turn.

In the secondary or motor circuit 104 I employ a magnetically-operatedbut a switch mechanically maintained closed. This is detailed 'in Fig.9. The primary circuit through the thermostat and the switch element kwinds. around the magnets 2 (Fig.

14) Consequently these are energized when the thermostat switch arm d isin contact with the contact h. This draws down the armature 3 and thecontact point 4 engages with the spring contact 5 enclosed in the. case6 (see Fig. 9). The armature is provided with a continuing portion thatforms an arm 8 (see Fig. 7 This is pivoted at9 to the wall 10 of thecase that supports the mechanism (Fig. 10). This arm [is provided with across bar portion 11 adapted to engage in the notch of the detent 12that is pivoted at 13 and is weighted at 14.

This detent provides a lock to lock the secondary circuit switch 13 soit will not release until the shaft a has made a complete half turn.

It will be apparent that'the circuit through the split ring switchelement k is broken slightly before the shaft has completed afull halfturn. Consequently the secondary circuit switch 13 would be brokenbefore the shaft u completes a half turn. However, the detent l2 holdsthe armature down andthe secondary circuit closed until the detent isreleasd by reason of the cam.

' roller 15 striking the cam following arm 16 on the detent 12. Thislifts the toothed portion of the detent out of the way of the bar 11 onvthe armaturearm and permits the weight 17 (Fig. 7) on the armature armto swing the armature up and break the switch 13.

To close the valve, when a given fall of 7 temperature has taken placein the refrigerator, the switch arm d will be caused by the curling upof the thermostat element retengage the opposite contact f. Nowreferring to Fig. 14; it will be seen that the circuit catch the bar 11.

can be traced through the wire 105 leading ture arm, thereby insuringthe holding of the secondary and motor circuit closed when the primaryswitch breaks before the half turn is quite completed, 'The" switchthrough the primary circuit will break when the gap in the splitringswitch intervenes between the two contacts n and 19. The shaft u willcontinue to rotate by virtue of the secondary circuit and the. motorcircuit being held closed by the detent engaging the .armature arm untilthe complete half turn has been accomplished. The roll 15 'willdisengage the detent to permit the counterweight to raise the armaturearm and break the secondary and motor circuit. motor. The valve willthen be closed. 7

Referring to Fig. 10, it will be seen that the cam c is provided withtwo diametrically-opposite shoulders 21. These are for the purpose ofpermitting the armature arm bar 11 to drop in toward the center of thecam to release the secondary circuit switch when the detent 12 isdisengaged from the said bar. it will be seen, just clears the bar 11when the detent is engaging it, hence the high part of the cam serves asan additionalmeans for'making sure the circuit is not prematurely brokenin case the detent 12 does not It will be obvious that at the time thesplit ring switch'in the primary circuit is broken that the high part ofthe cam will be behind the bar 11, which will ride thereon and will notpermit the, separation of the contacts 4; and 5 until the bar drops offfrom the end of the shoulder 21, which will be substantially at the sametime that the detent'12 would be released-in case the same had beenproperly functioning.

This stops the armature down to keep the switch for the The high portionof the cam,

The source of energy for the primary circuit, of course, can be anysuitable sup ly of electricity. However, I have preferred to use theorslinary service line where, of course, the voltage is from 110 to 120.I, therefore employ a transformer to step-down the current for themotor, which is preferably a six-voltmotor.

This completes the detailed description of the devicesbetween' thethermostat and the valve. The operation effected by the "cooling mediumwill now be described. The water line 26 is connected with a source ofcold water, such, for instance, as well water,

"ice taps are open.

water from theline 26 to run through the coils and thereby absorb heatand bring the temperature of the chest down to nearly the temperature ofthe'water entering. l/Vhen the temperature of the refrigerator hasreached, we will say, '50 degrees, the ther mostat contacts the oppositecontact f and the valve operating mechanism closes the valve in the wayjust above described, shutting off the circulation of the cold waterthrough the refrigerator.

One of the important features of my control for this system ofrefrigeration is that it permits the same pump to be used to draw waterfor ordinary house service such as water closets, spigots, garden hose,etc., without in any way interfering with its operation. Ordinarily thecontrol of artificial refrigerating apparatus is by the thermostatcuttingon or off an electric motor which operates a compressor whichsupplies an expansible medium to the box. No such mode of operation isutilized in my apparatus. in my apparatus I simply couple the same upwith a pump controlled by the pressure accumulating in the line. Byutilizing a thermostat simply to cut off the flow of the fluid throughthe refrigerating coils. I create a back pressure which operates onthecontrol valve to stop the motor that runs the pump. provided that noneof the serv- If any of the service taps'are open. then the operation ofthe thermostat in the refrigerator simply cuts off the flow through therefrigerator and has no effect on the service lines until all these tapsare closed; This type of refrigerating con trol not only lends itsclf todomestic use of the individual farmer but a number of persons in acommunity maybe served from a single pump for obviously se'vcralrefrigerators and several series of taps could be served from thc samcmain and each refrigerator and each tap could properly function. thepump continuing to-run as long as circulation is demanded in any of thercfrigerators or water is discharged through any of the taps. it will.therefore. be evident that thc system is very nicely adapted forcommunity use.

I ha vc'illustrated a number of service. taps. for instance. the spig t2-2 over the. sink 23 and llH co k '24 over the laundry tub The main 26leads to a pressurc-controlled switch 27,. or; working parts a, which :mdetailed in Figs. 2 and 3. This comprises a dome 28 into which the-waterpasses from the pump 29 which. is run by the .motor M.

The dome 28 is surmounted byahcasing 30,

the, base of which has a nipple-31 that screws into the top of the dome.Ontothis base is screwed a casting"32 which has a pairof upright sidesupports or plates 33'. Between the base of the casting 32-and the baseof the lower member is clamped rubber dia--'-' phragm 3a., .-Apassage-way 35jleadsfrom the interiorof'the dome 28 into the charm vber.below the diaphragm. B6 is a cross. member between. the side. uprightswhich is provided with' an adjusting. nut 38 having a central borethrough whichis guided the stem 39. ,The lower end ,ofthis-ste'mforms'into a head 40 which isprovided with a plate j portion-41 which isadapted-tolie against the diaphragm'. A coil-sp'ring-j42- ordinarilylree'ps the stem projected downwardly. The

resistanceof this spring may be adjusted 1 means of the nut 38. 1 Thehead-40 is provided with av sock t that engages the ball ter minal 43 ofthe bell 'cranklever44. The-up per end of this lever hasa ball terminal45 which engages in a socketportion of, one of the three toggle'arms 46,47.-and 48, which:

; Comparing Figs. Qand 3, the actionwill form sort of a compound toggle.

be seen; When the spring 42 isrsubjected toa pressure by the diaphragmfless than the predetermined pressure, the parts remain in the positionshown in Fig. 2, tll flb is, the

expansion of the spring 42 forces thehead 40 downwardly andconsequently'theftoggle arms remain-lathe '1)()Sl i)l0ll shown in Fig.:2, the two arms at the-left being at the upper side of the dead centerline, thereby keeping the switch points 49 and 50 together. 1 When thepressure accumulates in the dome 28mins to the closing of all the tapsand all the refrigerating coils, the pump continues,

until the pressure in the dome 28 has risen to a prcdeternnned degree,sayoO pounds, for instance (the pressure necessary to overcome thespring may be varied by adjusting the nut w). Thediaphragmthen'oyercoines the;

pressure of the spring 42 and the bell crank Fig. thereby causing the.two toggle arms 'at the left to break downwardly below theirs/ .115lever 44 is thrown to the position shown in dead center line andtheicbythrow the switch opcn. asshown in this figure. This discontlnucsthe supply of electric energy to the motor and consequently the pumpstops.

()bviousl vwhen any one of the taps isopen or thethcrmostatically-controlled valve to the rc'frigcrator. the pressure inthe. dome 28 falls and the spring 42 closes the electric switch and themotor again comes into-opcrnt ion. v

()uc of l'hc greatest objections to the ordinary,cxpanding gas type ofrefrigera rosive gases.

great deal of service and repair, which makes it ill-adapted for the useof the rural dweller.

apparatus and entirely eliminates the correlatively cheapascompared'with a refrigerating apparatus working on the principle ofcompressing and expanding gas, espetjially when it is taken intoconsideration that the same apparatus may be utilized to serve theentire house' and farm with water. Furthermore, the water passingthrough the refrigerator discharges through the discharge line shown inFig. l, where it appears as a waste line, but the discharge water can befurther used in the garden,

for instance, or to flush toilets, etc.

Another feature over the brine tank is that the refrigerating medium iscontained in coils which occupy a considerable area inthe total wallspace of the chest and hence present a relatively great volume ofrefrigerating medium to qulckly absorb any heat allowed to come into thechamber by opening of the door. With the so-called iceless refrigeratorthe brine and the air in the brine compartment is rather a small volumeof colder medium to absorb the heat and restore the desired thermalcondition. Hence considerable time is required to restore the desiredthermal condition, where a door has been left open, and the food suffersfrom this. V

I have shown an electric motor as driving thepump, but obviously someother motor might be used as, for instance, a gas engine provided with asuitable electric starter, or something of this kind. I shall,therefore, refer to the motor element broadly as a motor, whetherelectric, gas or some other means of converting energyiuto mechanicalwork.

Obviously by simplychanging the wire 105 to the binding post i and thewire I00 to the binding post IS. the flow of the water through therefrigerator will be based upon a. reverse condition. to-wit. when thetemperature falls to a predetermined point the water will begin tocirculate and when the temperature rises to a given point thecirculation of the water will be cut oil. This may be a usefulalteration of operation in cold weather when the refrigerator is in aweather-exposed place. The water is then The present system does awaywith all this gas compressingand expanding Furthermore, the system is.

used to keep the temperature up to a predetermined degree so that thingswill not freeze.-

The contact screws f and It may be turned in or out to change thetemperature at which the valve action is secured. The thermometer 120 onthe face of the thermostat will aid in securing the proper adjustment ofthese contact screws.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination of a box orrefrigerating chamber, a source of water supply arranged to providewater under pressure, a pipe line for conducting such water through saidbox or chamber for tending to equalize the temperature of the interiorof the same and the water, a water discharge line leading from such pipeline and including a waste line, a valve controlling the flow throughsaid waste line, a thermostat influenced by.

the temperature of the interior of the box or chamber. and connectionscontrolledv by said thermostat for opening and closing said valve.

2. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination of a box orrefrigeratingchamber, a source of water suppl arranged to provide waterunder press re, a line for con ducting water therefrdm into proximitywith said .box or chamber and tending. to v equalize the temperature ofthe interior of the box or chamber and the water passing;

through said line, awater discharge line leading from such line andincluding a, waste line. a valve controlling the flow of Water throughsaid waste line, a thermostat 1nfluenced by the temperature of theinterior of the box,or chamber, and a motor for; operating said valvehaving an independent;' source of energy but controlled 'bysaid"thermostat. 3. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination of'abox orrefrigerating chamber, a source of water supply arranged to providewaternnder pressure, a line for conducting water-therefrom intoproximity with said box or. chamber and tending to equalize t-hetemperature of the interior of the box'or chamber and the water passingthrough, said line. a water dischargeline leading from.

such line and including a waste line, a valve controlling the fiowofi-water through said waste line, a thermostat iniiuenced by thetemperature of the box or chamber, and

a motor opening and closing said valve with 1 a quick positive actiondue to a source of cncrgy independent of the thermostat but initiated bysaid thermostat.

In testimony whereof I my signature.

' LLOYD o. COPEMAN.

